Traitor
by Eldrazisuperstar
Summary: Sometimes you still lose, even if you win. conquest!Takumi x suicidal!Reader. Contains suicide, themes of depression, and mild gore.


You could hear the wind against the cold stone of the tower as you climbed the final step up the narrow staircase. This was the right thing to do. You had told yourself this more times than you could count by now. All of this would be worth it in the end. You wished it could have ended with less deaths that you couldn't prevent, but to save everyone you needed to keep fighting.

And yet, it felt wrong.

Maybe it was the blood running through your veins that knew deep down you belonged with them. Maybe it was the image of innocent people dying that you couldn't get out of your head. Either way there was something in your chest that felt heavy and ached with every step you took. It hurt. It hurt even though it was right.

The top floor was illuminated by a few flickering lamps casting shadows that stretched along the floor and walls. In the middle of it, you could see a figure. Someone familiar that you didn't want to see.

Your chest dropped even further and the ache became a sharp pain.

His eyes were cold ever since the day you told your other family you weren't coming back. Before that his tone had been harsh, but you could see some flicker of light that he couldn't hide deep within him. Something that matched what you had felt back then that you both shared even if he wouldn't admit it.

It was gone now.

You tensed up as Takumi readied his bow. It was just the two of you since the others were still fighting on the floor bellow. You wished that they had followed you up. Having a hand on your shoulder from Camilla to comfort you or having someone as calming and unwavering as Xander by your side would have made this easier. You could just move forward and try to forget. He could just be another enemy to knock out.

But they weren't. You had to face this and the reality of having to fight your own brother alone.

"I have waited too long for this moment." He was trying to sound confident, but his voice was shaking. The coldness in his eyes wasn't just from hatred. There was something else. "I have dreamed of nothing but ending you."

You had been having the same dream. It was one where he would tell you of all of the things you had done. All of the people you had let down and let die. And you always stood there unmoving, letting him fire his arrow as if it could erase everything.

But this wasn't a dream. And you couldn't let him do that because it would death for countless others. You needed to finish this. You gripped your sword. "I'm sorry..."

You could see him tense up even further. "Do you remember what I told you in Cheve? Do You?!"

You did. It was what the Takumi in your dream repeated to you every night. "You said you would not let me rest until you killed me- made me pay for my sins."

"That's right. There's no turning back now...not for me. This is all I have left. For better or worse, this will be our last meeting. It ends here. I made up my mind to kill you a long time ago. I WILL have my revenge for mother and all of the Hoshidan lives you ruined." You could see him shaking. His gaze rested on you, unwavering.

You spoke his name softly, under your breath. He was right. Even if you won and saved everyone else, nothing could undo the damage. You deserved it. He had every right to want to kill you.

You saw him draw back an arrow but you were quicker. Out of reflex you slashed at him. He didn't have heavy armor on. It was enough to make him clutch his side and fall to the ground, crying out in pain. The noise made you want to never touch a sword again. Something about it carried a pain that was more than just the slash itself.

You stood there and watched him slowly get up. The faint noises of battle from the floor under you had stopped. It was over.

"The Nohrian army has seized control over the Great Wall of Suzanoh. All remaining soldiers will be taken prisoner. That includes you." You put your sword away.

He glared at you. "I hope you...rot in a pit of eternal torment..." His voice sounded hollow. Somewhere deep down he knew he had lost his last hope.

"I won't hurt you anymore. I'll even...let you see Sakura."

"You captured her too?!" He seemed to jolt.

"Please, calm yourself. I know how your feeling. But father will be here soon." He would make you kill him. An image of you holding Takumi's body as it bleed out and your father laughing over it flashed through your mind, but you quickly pushed it away. You would never let it come to that even if he did come. Even if he hated you, even if he wanted you dead, you didn't want to see Takumi hurt any more.

You stepped over and offered him a gentle hand. He looked like he was having trouble standing. You hand was immediately slapped away as Takumi desperately hobbled over to the edge of the wall. "Don't touch me!" He couldn't hide the pain in his voice very well now. Even if it was wavering before, he had still kept up some facade of being ok on the surface.

You stepped closer. "Takumi..."

"I mean it. Don't come near me. If it wasn't for you, none of these awful things would have happened to Hoshido. No one would have had to die. We...could have been a family. Why did you have to go back to Nohr...? Why...?" You could see wetness starting to form in his eyes. His breathing was ragged.

You didn't know how to answer him. Why had to left that day? You told yourself it was because of the others, your family in Nohr. But you had felt something deep ever since you met him. Why didn't you stay with him? You had never gotten to laugh with him, never even gotten to see him really smile. The thing you had seen on the battlefield wasn't a smile, it was a look of bloodlust covering up pain.

There was something deeper that you felt for him. Why?

You stepped closer again, this time pulling him into a hug. You couldn't help it. You had been keeping everything in for too long. All of your feelings, every desire to go to him and really be there for him. You wanted to hold him. You wanted to tell him everything was going to be ok even if you weren't sure if it would be. "Takumi..." You closed your eyes.

He was crying now.

Light sobs came from him as he stood there, letting you embrace him. "Don't you speak my name...traitor..." You pulled him closer. "It doesn't matter...nothing matters...not anymore..."

You shook your head. You could feel the prick of tears at the edges of your eyes now too, so you opened them and met his. "You matter...I won't run away from you anymore."

He shook his head. "You can't keep me prisoner...even if you try they wouldn't let you...don't you see?" He gently moved your arms off of him, climbing up onto the edge. He looked back at you, giving you a smile. It wasn't a real one, but it was closer than one filled with hate. He was still crying. "You shouldn't have left me a way...a way to escape..."

You tried to grab him, but you weren't quick enough. It happened too quickly. He vanished over the edge and the last sound you heard was the sickening crunch of his bones hitting the ground at the bottom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The war was over. You had won. Garon had been exposed and defeated. There was peace between the two kingdoms. Nohr was reaching out with Xander as it's king and Hoshido was rebuilding with Hinoka as it's queen.

But you still lost.

Every time you closed your eyes you could still see the smile Takumi gave you before he fell. The sound of his voice haunted your dreams. You still went to strategy meetings to talk of diplomacy, but you couldn't focus. You couldn't distract yourself with them the way you used to.

Your sisters kept asking why you wouldn't come visit them. You couldn't tell them that it was because you would have to pass by the wall. The wall that you watched him die at. The wall his body fell from and broke at the bottom of.

They found his body after the war ended. You watched as they buried what was left of him. It was still too recognizable and you could remember how warm his body felt pressed up against yours when you hugged him. You wished that you hadn't let go. You let him get to the edge. He was laying there because you weren't quick enough to save him. You had never been quick enough to save anyone, not Takumi, not Ryoma, and not the countless innocent people that had died because of the war.

In the end Takumi was right. You made everyone suffer. You turned on him and everyone else. Everything else was just a sad attempt to make up for your mistakes in the first place.

You really were a traitor and there was nothing left for you.

You shut the door to your room, locking it to make sure that Jakob and Felicia wouldn't bother you.

You held your sword up to your throat and closed your eyes. You would pay for everything you did and you could finally see Takumi with a real smile.

You stepped into the white light and took his hand as he led you to a garden where your mother and Ryoma were waiting for you.


End file.
